Bayo Onanuga, Nigeria’s presidential adviser, accused Nigerians of being unpatriotic when they traded on the Binance platform.
An adviser to Nigeria’s president has proposed a ban on Binance, KuCoin, and other trading platforms in the country.
Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu’s communication and strategy adviser, came to the X social media site to accuse the platforms of manipulating the country’s fiat currency, the Nigerian naira, which has contributed to the currency’s continued slide in the forex market. This comes as reports suggest that the government is already considering a ban.
In a post headlined “The Naira-Dollar Manipulators,” the presidential adviser accused Nigerians of being unpatriotic for trading on the Binance platform. Onanuga urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to promptly suspend cryptocurrency exchange operations in the country. He said:
“The EFCC and CBN should take action against these platforms that are attempting to manipulate our national currency to Ground Zero. Cryptocurrency should be banned in our country; else, the bleeding of our money will continue unabated.”
Onanuga stated that Binance is under regulatory examination in multiple countries and should not be given the right to determine the value of the naira on its cryptocurrency exchange platform. However, on February 22, Binance distanced itself from Nigeria’s forex issue, stating that its platform is “market-driven and not intended to be a proxy for currency pricing in Nigeria.”
Crypto users in Nigeria have experienced trouble accessing several cryptocurrency exchange websites, such as Binance, OctaFX, and others. This development developed on the evening of February 21, amid talk about a potential government ban on cryptocurrency platforms.
Binance responded to the development in an email to its subscribers, stating that it is aware of the situation and clarifying that the problem only affected the online platform and that the Binance app remains operational. The exchange told users that it is actively engaging with regulators to establish an open, transparent debate about how to manage the country’s burgeoning cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Binance limited the selling price of Tether USDT tokens to $1.00 on its P2P network, preventing traders from selling USDT beyond 1,802 naira per USDT. However, contrary to popular belief among the local crypto community, the exchange indicated that the price peg was caused by an automatic system stoppage.
